Review: A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1) by Bella Forrest

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.

A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

A slave, but not a victim

Gifted from the author for an honest review.

The Good

The whole idea of a vampire coming in the night while I'm out for a walk on the beach and kidnapping me to a mysterious island where they will do what they want, when they want is a truly terrifying thought. While I love every author's take on different supernatural creatures (especially new exciting things I haven't seen before), I enjoy vampires being bad because really, these are some scary monsters. At the heart of the classic vampire, they are immortal, callous toward's human life, and have no qualms about taking what they want. These vampires are in this story.

Also, Derek who is one of the most powerful of them all is such a compelling character because he has much more human characteristics. I immediately felt drawn to him and wanted him to make a better life for everyone. He sees Sofia offering comfort to another girl that's been brought there as a slave and this makes him want to be around her more. I really like their interactions through the story and how protective he is over Sofia.

The setting of this island of vampires, where it's so difficult to escape, makes the story more believable and is given in a way that it's easy to see it in my mind while reading. The homes are on tree tops so while I hope that none of the humans are afraid of heights, it would be majestic in my opinion to visit a place like that (although I would in no way want to be staying here).

The Bad

This is not a long story and I enjoy full novels much more to get all the information necessary. While there was a great deal of foreshadowing of what may happen in future books (all are intriguing), there was not much wrapped up overall in this one.

I was also put off a little by Sofia's personality until she was with Derek. I didn't think I was going to like her because she was pretty whiny and seems to think she is crazy. I did later grow to enjoy her as a character much more, but thought it important to mention.

The Romance

I like Derek and Sofia together on the same page. They bring out each other's strengths and this is really what a good relationship is all about.

Conclusion

While short, the imagery, story, and writing was very well-done. I will be following up with the sequel to learn where these characters go from here. Recommended for fans of paranormal.

Excerpts

“I know an excuse when I hear one. Don't you dare deceive yourself into believing that you're the victim, Derek Novak.” “You're not a pawn, Sofia. You're the queen.”

I just went to check out your review. I love how you mentioned The Shade and how it's so fitting because it's always dark. I completely forgot to put anything about that. And the fact about Lucas in particular being so creepy. Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope we get a 2nd one to read in this one sometime soon :D

I remember reading yours a while back because I can remember thinking that Lucas was really scary in your review. It definitely told the truth about him. I just went to re-read it to remind myself what all you said and I love how you describe Lucas as well as how beautiful the world is and how strong Sofia is. I forgot to mention her strength even though my title suggests it. Definitely a scary world. I hope we get a 2nd one to read for this one soon. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Jaclyn Canada is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.